VANDERBILT ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME – CLASS OF 2010
Grantland Rice (Football, Baseball, 1898-1901)
Vanderbilt alumnus Grantland Rice was a giant in the sportswriting world, widely regarded as the greatest in his profession and helping shape how generations of Americans would view sports in the process. His first four sentences about the “Four Horsemen” in the 1924 Notre Dame-Army game are some of the most famous ever written about American sports. Over time, his name became synonymous with sportswriting, although he always remained as humble as he was during the days he wore a Commodore uniform. His verse about “The One Great Scorer” was found posted in high school gymnasiums around the nation during the first half of the 20th Century. As a way of honoring the immeasurable contributions he and protégé Fred Russell made to the field, the Grantland Rice-Fred Russell Sports Writing Scholarship is awarded every year to an incoming Vanderbilt freshman who intends to pursue a career in sports journalism.
- Played football and baseball at Vanderbilt, captaining 1901 baseball team
- Elected to Vanderbilt Board of Trust in 1926
- One of the original members invited to Augusta National upon its opening in 1932, by none other than Bobby Jones
- Received Amos Alonzo Stagg Award for outstanding contribution to football in 1946
- First inductee into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1962
- Part of inaugural inductee class of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1966, alongside Commodore greats Dan McGugin, Bill Wade and Jess Neely
- Awarded the 1966 J.G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America, its highest honor, for meritorious contributions to baseball writing
- Press box at Vanderbilt Stadium dedicated to him and named after his protégé, fellow Vanderbilt Hall of Fame member Fred Russell